Family of Hall Green war veteran angry that no-one from UK Government was present at ceremony.

Relatives of a Birmingham war veteran have slated the government for snubbing a ceremony to honour his heroics on hellish Russian convoy missions.

Jimmy Doherty – a man who still struggles to come to terms with how he survived the blistering cold and constant barrage of torpedoes and bombs – was presented with the Ushakov Medal by London’s Russian Embassy.

But proud son Alan, who accompanied the 91-year-old, is incensed Whitehall was not represented in the ceremony at Kensington Palace.

The butcher, who runs a Bull Ring business, said: “It’s a pity there wasn’t someone from the British government.

“You’d think at least one MP could’ve got off his backside. They’re on holiday, after all.”

Jimmy, from Hall Green, rarely speaks of his harrowing three years on HMS Onslaught, a destroyer that made regular, perilous treks from Scapa Flow, Scotland, to Russia to collect refugees.

But he admits crewmen needed more than a daily rum ration to calm nerves during Nazi bombardments.

“They were allowed two ounces of rum,” said 68-year-old Alan. “When they got to Scapa Flow some would go to a chemists to buy methylated spirits to mix with it.